Hi guys I decided to open this topic to get a better understanding about possible motion platform options.
My budget allows me to take one of following:
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NLR GT Track with Motion V3 (worried about mounting properly Honeycomb Alpha and Bravo without DIY and loss of immersion due to it being a seat mover)
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NLR Boeing Flight Cockpit with one motion plus (Possible to attach honeycomb Alpha Bravo but seem to be wobbly) This option is the more appealing to me esthetically due to the Boeing cockpit but I am worried about not providing enough motion, also not compatible with V3.
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DOF Reality H2/H3 (does having yaw makes the difference?) worries of it to be complicated
What is the most immersive option, the fact that the V3 moves only your seat can it break immersion when using rudders and having throttle and yoke fixed?
The motion plus looks good because it moves the whole rig but it feels like it was developed for sim racing in mind, also installing only one can be enough?
DOF Reality I am not sure about, I read that their software is less polished and need different plug ins to make it work. Also it looks clunky and less compact. (just my impression).
I read that less motion is best so maybe there is no need for DOF Reality, what I would like to feel is the feeling of lift off, touch down, feel when I land quite hard, acceleration, some turbulence while flying and ect.
NLR is the one I like most, to me their product looks more polished compact and plug and play. I’ve read that their software works very well but they are more expensive.
I found very little information of people using one motion plus for flight simulator, I like the idea of having the full rig moving but most of reviews talk about racing.
DOF Reality H2/H3 seems to me the most complete but as I said it looks more complicated to set up but if you guys think it’s the best of the 3 I might go for it.
Thank You
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Good morning. I recently switched from XP to MSFS and PMDG 737 and absolutely love it. I am now am starting to look at building a motion platform as well, My primary question is what is the best software (easy to configure and use) to interface MSFS to bridges /relay that eventually control DC motors. I read Thanos controller, I read Arduino board etc. Any thoughts on what is best to use? I’d like to build a mini prototype first. Thank you.
I have the nlr motion plus x2 (front & back), had them for about 12 months. I know that’s not what you asked above although you did mention the motion plus. In that time I’ve had one fail (replaced under warranty but a pain and expensive to ship!). It’s good & less good for me and these are my opinions, not objective truths and I don’t have any experience with other motion platforms. A touch of buyers remorse for sure, but not too much 
On the plus side for the nlr:
- They are compact and slot in nicely to an existing nlr rig, mine are on a GT Track.
- The software is really nice and makes adjustments easy. It has most of the games you would likely need.
- The detail of motion is very good, ie in msfs you can really feel all those bumps when there’s turbulence, the bump of touching down etc. Roll & pitch are there but the effect is more subtle due to the limited movement range. Simulating g-force is not their strength so that means acceleration effects won’t be strong.
- If you’re into driving sims then again it’s the detail in the road surface that’s mainly what comes through. The bumps on kerbs, pitching down when braking hard into a corner and wheel slip are all great to have. Without the units on then no question, everything feels very dull.
- They are relatively light on power use compared to others I believe.
- Simple to setup and ‘build’. As they’re pretty much self contained there’s not much messing around.
On the less than positive side:
- They are very expensive for what they are, of course I knew that when purchased. An expensive toy but if you can afford it and are limited in what footprint your motion can have they make a viable option.
- They are quite noisy when moving, I always have noise cancelling phones on but be aware of that as it may annoy others.
- Once you’ve experienced motion and particularly when coupled with VR it makes flying without it a total snooze fest, that might not be good for your bank balance.
- If you’re after a roller-coaster effect then as said above, these units won’t do that. But, my opinion, too much rolling around gets old pretty fast. Others maybe will love that.
Overall they’re decent but there are better options if you’re looking at value for money, in my opinion. I don’t think the DOF looks that tricky to build and it does look decent but I’ve never used one. Looking back and if I knew then what I know now I may have gone another direction but that would have also meant a new rig etc. It had to stop somewhere!
When I had the unit fail then going back to one unit installed did make a noticeable difference, mainly in the driving sims, but I always had that experience of two units in mind.
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Hello and thanks for your reply. I find it hard for us simmers who want to build motion systems but we cannot try it before.
Tomorrow I will get delivery of the Motion V3 but I will send it back as the idea of only the seat moving got me less exited.
I liked more the Motion Plus but as you said it’d quite expensive and having only one mounted might break immersion.
At the moment I am thinking of going with a system with 4 actuator there is a Swedish company SIMRIG and their SR2 motion system come with 4 actuators and the price sits in between The Motion V3 and 2x Motion Plus.
But I am getting mt time before taking any decision.
Hi, I read as well that Thanos Motion Controller is good found out while I was looking at the RS Mega +. But didn’t serch further as I was looking for something more plug and play and I discovered SIMRIG
Or you can go with one from Products - Motion Systems 
I would be really interested to hear more about your experience with the motion unit @JMsoo8137 and thanks for sharing your feedback @CaptPelican69 , much appreciated
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@CaptPelican69 With hindsight, if you ordered now, would you buy the Motion Plus again or would you buy the DOF H3 with SFU upgrade? The Motion Plus ‘looks’ like it doesn’t move enough for flight simulation but I have never owned a motion rig so that could be wrong. Does the distance of travel matter in flight simulation for GA use at home?
That’s difficult to answer because I’ve never had a chance to compare side by side but from just looking at the DOF in action it’s unquestionably much better value for money…I’m happy with my setup but of course there’s always something that may appear ‘better’, the NLR’s just fitted my existing setup well at the time.
The DOF will give you more of that rollercoaster effect although too much movement could get pretty annoying especially if you’re trying to manipulate things in the cockpit. As I mentioned, the NLR units are excellent when it comes to detail imo. In VR and in turbulence they simulate the feeling of being bumped around really nicely, even that can be tiring to deal with for long periods but it’s definitely immersive. The software does motion compensation well too, not sure what the DOF software is like there.
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Hello, as of today I haven’t bought any motion rig yet. To be honest I purchased the NLR V3 but sent it back without unpacking it. I didn’t like to only have the seat moving. However, my research showed that it is good for simulating G force.
I will go for SimRig 2 so I can have the whole platform moving chek the company out I think is the best for the buck coming cheaper than D-Box but still good enough.
I lost interest in DOF Reality as I also started to get serius in sim racing using stronger racing wheel and firmer pedals I needed a rig to sustain the stress of racing and I purchaes a 120mm sim rig that can be used for flight sim and racing those types of rigs works only with 4 actuators.
So if you ask me I would go for 4 actuators to move my rig
HI. Thank you for your review. I have one motion plus unit. Do you feel a significant difference with 2 units in Msfs?
Thanks
Josh
There is a difference but it’s hard to call it significant, if you can afford it then sure why not. But I wouldn’t expect night & day. For the cost (new) of the NLR you’re a good way towards the better value systems, imo but I get it’s difficult to switch if you’re already invested in a particular direction…
thanks. Agree on the difficulty switching. I have a GT track so made sense to go with the Motion plus for me. It is awesome in VR.
Thanks again.
Josh
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I had exactly the same questions and finally I consider that I prefer spending more time flying that building a rig and configuring a software that is why I selected the products of motion systems sold by them or through NLR because their software il perfect for flying in VR. This established, I consider best but costly solution would be the traction plus that provides yaw, very useful for helicopters or landing with wind, V3 that move the seat and motion plus that moves the chassis. I’m asking this questions:
1- when in VR is it really perceptible the fact that the seat only is moving? Does it has an impact on the precision of using HOTAS that are not moving?
2- if using traction plus for having yaw and one motion plus to have roll pitch and heave, I guess it’s a good compromise but as everybody, I don’t know if movements are sufficient for military flight with DCS for example. By the way, this solution would be out of the box compatible with the Flight Sim Boeing of NLR which is nice but does not accept V3. Other solution would be using a GT track cockpit that accept both V3 motion plus and traction plus with the combat flight pack
Thank you for the useful information in regards!
I come back to my previous comment. I finally bought and built a MotionXP 6DOF rig kit for a cost less than the equivalent DOF using V3 + 2 motion plus + traction plus of NLR, without speaking of the cost of the NLR cockpit itself….MotionXP ranges are huge compared to those of NLR and the whole is working perfectly in VR openXR or openVR or with monitors using FlyPT mover open source sw. I’m delighted of its use in DCS IL2 and MSFS, compared to DOF reality it’s day and night both from hardware as from sw pov…. I strongly encourage any of you interested in motion looking to the MotionXP site or discord.
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I checked the website, and that looks like a very good setup, but I lack the space for that type of platform.
As of today, I have put my motion platform project on standby. My rig is too heavy now for the Sim Rig 2 I wanted to purchase, so my only option now is D-Box 5. I am going to invest in force feedback yokes and rudders at the moment and come back to the motion rig next year at best.
I have the NLR Boeing cockpit with one motion plus .
Does adding a second motion plus makes a significant difference In the immersion as far as pitch when taking off and landing? Thank you.
Thank you for your answer